VETERINARIANS IDENTIFY BEACHED WHALE

Veterinarians have identified the dead whale found beached Saturday on Palm Beach as a True's beaked whale, a type found more commonly in northern waters.

The full-grown female whale is undergoing a necropsy at Sea World of Florida in Orlando by officials who hope to discover factors that may have contributed to its death.

"We may know if it was infected by parasites or if it had other problems," Sea World spokesman Sean Fisher said on Sunday. "Perhaps it may lead to (answers) why they beach themselves."

Fisher said it was doubtful the veterinarians will be able to determine the exact cause of the whale's death.

The whale was found Saturday morning alongside a small metal jetty by a fisherman who was searching for bait. It was beached a few hundred yards north of the homes owned by the Kennedy family and Mollie Wilmot, where the freighter Mercedes was grounded in 1984.

Fisher said the whale was 16 feet long and weighed 3,400 pounds. The animal's tale fin appeared to have been chewed by sharks, probably after it had died, he said.

True's beaked whales are found along the eastern coast of the United States and the coast of northern Europe; Florida is at the southern tip of their range, Fisher said.